Skorts issue is parked but Camogie Association has other challenges to address

Irish Daily Mirror

22-05-2025

In the end, the Camogie Association has arrived at the right solution, albeit via a rather circuitous route, as an agreement was reached tonight to allow players the choice between wearing skorts or shorts.
Uachtarán Brian Molloy said this evening: "We are pleased to announce that delegates have voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of giving players greater choice in their playing attire. From midnight tonight, each individual player will have the option to wear skorts or shorts - adding choice while maintaining the professionalism and uniformity of our team kits in both colour and design.
"I want to sincerely thank our incredible volunteers for their ongoing support over the last few weeks, and to our delegates for voting on behalf of over 120,000 members, including 94,000 playing members.
"As the All-Ireland Championships begin this weekend, we ask everyone to support their teams, drive higher attendances at all upcoming games, and help us fill Croke Park for the finals on August 10th."
Indeed, the wait might even have been longer. A similar motion to allow players to wear shorts rather than skorts fell short at last year's Camogie Congress and wasn't due to be debated in that particular forum again until 2027.
When the Kilkenny and Dublin camogie teams protested on the matter earlier this month, there came a pledge to move the matter forward to next year.
With that being wholly insufficient, tonight's Special Congress was hastily convened and the matter finally put to bed, but not without further needless embarrassment, not to mention angst for players in the meantime.
The Waterford-Cork Munster final was pulled at the 11th hour as players made it clear that they would only wear shorts, leaving players 'devastated' and 'demoralised'. The Kilkenny and Wexford players fulfilled the Leinster final last Saturday in skorts under protest after first presenting themselves to play the game in shorts.
A Special Congress could have been called remotely at an earlier stage to avoid all of that. It wouldn't have been without precedent; the GAA convened a virtual Special Congress in April 2020 to deal with the havoc that the Covid-19 pandemic was wreaking in a more expedient manner. Desperate times and all that.
The Camogie Association may argue that time was needed to tease the issue out and there is merit in that, but it was hardly worth it in the context of reputational damage suffered in the interim.
Indeed, surely a derogation of rule could have been applied for the rest of the season with a Special Congress staged later in the year when emotions around the issue would have calmed?
While this has snowballed into a significant story that has engaged people with less than a passing interest in sport, the reality is that the general public will move on quickly now that sense has finally prevailed.
But challenges remain for the Camogie Association. As of 3pm yesterday, venues had yet to be confirmed on its website for the All-Ireland Championship games scheduled for a week from tomorrow.
Female dual players remain prevalent, and every year there seems to be controversy around camogie and football fixtures going head to head and players being forced to choose. There'll surely be more before this summer is out.
The LGFA has a part in that too but is generally more progressive, not least for allowing its players to wear shorts, and has drawn crowds to its showpiece events that the CA could only dream of.
The integration of the CA, LGFA and GAA, which is being led by former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, is due to be completed by 2027.
It seems an overly optimistic target but, for female players who feel that they are being poorly served, it can't come quickly enough.